Amazonannounced on Thursday it had signed a deal to acquirePillPack, an online pharmacy that organizes prescription medication by the dose and delivers it to customers. Its pharmacy is based in Manchester, N.H., and its business operations are located in Somerville, Mass. PillPack and Amazon said they expected to close the deal by the end of the year. "We're excited to see what we can do together on behalf of customers over time".

Amazon, which has become a retail behemoth since its start as an online bookseller in 1994, is known for its willingness to forego profit, while slashing prices to win customers.

Online retail giant Amazon is entering the pharmacy business after months of speculation that the company could disrupt how prescription drugs are sold the same way it upended bricks-and-mortar retail. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos signaled his interest in health care earlier this year when he teamed up with Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Warren Buffett and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon to form a health care company to manage the health plans of their more than 1 million employees.

In April, CNBC reported that Walmart was looking to buy PillPack for less than $1 billion.

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CVS Health noted that PillPack isn't the only company in the space with drug delivery capabilities.

Amazon did not say how much it was paying for PillPack.

With its far-reaching and widely popular online site, Amazon moves closer to establishing beachheads in medicine chests across the USA and using that muscle to alter the traditional playbook for prescription drug distribution.

"When Amazon sneezes, everybody else catches a cold", said Joseph Feldman, an analyst with Telsey Advisory. It's raised more than $118 million from brand-name investors including Accel, Sherpa Capital and NY rapper Nas's Queensbridge Venture Partners. PillPack already raised over $120 million in funding, according toCrunchbase.

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